First Time for Everything
by kdp99
Summary: Ranger will always protect what is his, and he won't stop now. But his confidence waivers when an unexpected threat arises and Steph is first in their line of sight.
1. Chapter 1

**ALL FAMILIAR CHARACTERS, PLACES, THINGS, ETC (STEPH, TANK, MERRY MEN, ETC) BELONG TO JANET EVANOVICH! This is just for fun, no money to be made.**

"Who the hell did you piss off this time?" Ranger asked as he fired his gun towards the Rangeman garage entrance. I couldn't tell if was amusement or disbelief that I saw in his face after somehow bringing him into yet another gunfight, this time on his turf as we used the driver's side of my car for cover.

"If I knew I'd have told you already!"

"Would you have?" He asked with one eyebrow raised.

Probably not. "Yes."

"Babe." He totally knew I wouldn't. Somehow, he's always been able to see right through me. I felt helpless laying on the ground outside my car that I'd just pulled into the garage not even five minutes ago, right before the shots began. Luckily Ranger had been following me and caught on to the trouble that was waiting for us. Wishing I had my gun, I looked around to see how I could help. That's when I noticed Ranger's eyes go wide as he saw something that was out of my view. It was a look I'd never seen on his face before.

He quickly looked to Hal who had just come out of the stairwell. He apparently caught onto whatever his boss was transmitting and ran up and took his place at my back bumper. Ranger moved towards me pulling the gun out of his ankle holster and handed it to me. "I need you do exactly as I tell you. Don't question me, got it?"

I nodded. Listening was the least I could do since I brought him into this, whatever "this" was, and I didn't even think to bring my gun, which I'm sure Ranger realized long before I did.

"Steph, listen to me." My attention went back to the dead serious look on his face. "I'm gonna cover you. Run to the stairs and go up. Do. Not. Stop. Tank should be on his way down. Don't stop to talk to him or anyone else. Go to seven and lock all the doors behind you. Open the safe under my desk in my office and get the envelope out. The code is your birthday. Wait for me there and do not open the door for anyone, do you hear me?"

I started to open my mouth to answer, but I didn't have time before he said "Go". That was enough for me. I ran.

I was steps from the stairwell door when I heard the shots pick up as tires squealed out front, busting through the security gate. I turned back out of shock more than anything and locked eyes with Ranger. If I didn't know any better, I'd say there was a flicker of fear in his expression. It lasted no more than a second as he shouted, "STEPH GO". The urgency in his voice was unlike anything I'd heard before. Ranger was in mission mode and I was one of his men. Ranger always got his men out, that's what everybody said, right?

When I hit the second-floor landing, I ran straight into Tank's stone wall of a chest. He moved me to the side and continued down, not questioning me at all. I didn't think he would, but Ranger seemed to think he might've. He probably saw what was happening on the cameras and knew what was going on already. Him and Ranger always seemed to be on the same page before things ever happened, so I didn't think twice and continued my way up. By the time I reached the fourth floor landing I was winded and out of breath. I had paused for no more than a minute, bending over the railing to catch my breath when I heard the door on first floor bust open and echo up through the stairwell. That's all it took to get my ass in gear and hightail it the rest of the way up the stairs.

At the seventh floor I heard scuffles on the floors from below that my Spidey-senses screamed at me to get away from. I rushed in Ranger's door and threw the locks that I never had seen a point to because only the dumbest person would be stupid enough to break in on Ranger. I was still breathing hard and headed towards Ranger's office door when I heard the stairwell door slam open outside the apartment. That kicked my ass into gear as I shut and locked the office door and went to find the safe I never knew existed under his desk. That's when I remembered he said the code was my birthday. What in the world was that supposed to mean? Maybe he programmed different codes for different people, each person's code is their birthday. But that's not all that safe, is it? Steph! Focus!

The safe was bigger than I expected. I could fit in the safe for crying out loud. Wait. Was that his plan? To lock me in a safe? Steph! Focus! Distraction comes too easy when I'm unsure about what's going on. Where is Ranger? And why did he seem so worried? I've been with Ranger when he's in action, but I'd never seen him like this before. Steph! Focus!

After my shaky fingers finally got my birthday entered, the lock on the safe released, popping the door open just slightly. I wrenched it open and shamed myself for being nervous at what's inside. But all I saw were stacks of cash (lots of them, but it's Ranger), a few boxes, keys, papers, and right in the center was a big manilla envelope with my name on it. I double checked then triple checked just to be certain that there were no other envelopes in here. This wasn't making any sense. Why is there an envelope in his safe addressed to me? How long has it been here? Why do I need it now?

I was broken out of my string of mental questions when I heard the locks tumble on the front door of the apartment. For a minute I was nervous it wasn't Ranger, but I was quickly settled when he came through the office door and took the envelope out of my hands. I noticed he did a quick once over as if checking that I was okay.

"Ranger what's going on?" I couldn't keep the edge out of my voice. I wasn't frustrated with him, and I hope he knew that.

He was about to answer me but didn't get the chance as someone appeared in the doorway behind him and it certainly wasn't the face of any of my Merry Men. This man looked a decade or two older than me, with plenty of scars on his face that screamed danger. Ranger must've registered the shocked look on my face because he whipped around pulling his gun on the man who had already had his out. As if this day wasn't crazy enough, someone just snuck up on Ranger. I didn't even know that was possible. I would kill to know what was going through his mind right now.

Ranger's back was to me as he reached out and pushed me behind him, backing us up slowly until my back hit the wall. His silence was confusing me. I didn't recognize this guy, and Ranger's confidence was always something I could rely on, but I wasn't sensing much of that this time. What is going on??

"The girl comes with me" the big burly man grunted as he took a step forward.

* * *

**Happy to hear any feedback, but this is my first story so don't be a jerk. Thanks! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**ALL FAMILIAR CHARACTERS, PLACES, THINGS, ETC (STEPH, TANK, MERRY MEN, ETC) BELONG TO JANET EVANOVICH! This is just for fun, no money to be made. **

As the stranger stepped forward, I heard the envelope crunch under his foot. It must've fallen to the floor during our retreat to the wall my back was now plastered against. After glancing down at it, he threw Ranger a sickening smile that I definitely didn't like the look of. He bent down to pick it up, taking his eyes away from us, so I decided to take the chance to do what I thought Ranger should've done by now and raised my gun to shoot the bastard. It's unlike me, I know, but it seems necessary right about now.

In the brief second that he was bent over, just as I was about to pull the trigger, I saw the tiniest movement over scar-face's shoulder but it was gone when he stood back up straight. I realized it was Tank at the same time Ranger fired a shot aimed directly at the heart of the man in front of him.

Almost as if the man knew it was coming, he moved slightly. It wasn't fast enough to get out of the way of the bullet, but enough for it to land in his shoulder as opposed to the heart. To make things even more bizarre, the man only LAUGHED. He turned around a took a shot at Tank, somehow knowing he was approaching from behind. Ranger turned and pushed me to the floor before firing again, this time missing scar-face as he moved out of the way. The bullet lodged itself in the door frame instead.

I was scurrying to take cover behind the desk when I heard his chilling voice again "Come on Manoso, I know I taught you better than that." _Taught him?_ Who the hell was this guy?

"Your beef is with me, leave her out of it." Ranger growled. So maybe all this wasn't my fault?

"Don't be mistaken, I'll settle that one with you and you alone, I haven't forgotten. I'm here for an entirely different reason." His gaze traveled towards where I still sat on the ground. I'm not sure what frightened me more, the hungry look in his eyes or what he said next. "I can see why you protect her like you do. She's one to lock up for sure". I could've sworn he licked his lips and suddenly the urge to throw up was overwhelming. _So maybe this was my fault._

I didn't get the chance to find out because the room was in motion again. Ranger had lunged at the man with more anger radiating off of him than I think I'd ever seen. I needed to get out of here. Clearly whatever this was has Ranger in a mental place I've never seen him in. While the Ranger and Scar-face (his new Stephanie appointed nickname apparently) were busy throwing punches, I figured I'd try to stay low and sneak my way out the door. Maybe reconvene with Tank and come at this from a different angle. _Oh shit_. What happened to Tank.

I made it to the door way and peeked out in the living room, catching a glimpse of black pants and blood on the floor, when I was yanked up by the back of my shirt. All it took was the cold steel barrel of the gun to my head to know who had grabbed me.

I opened my eyes that I didn't even realize I slammed shut and saw Ranger on his knees with blood on his face. The words that I heard from behind me cut the air like knives as they were spat towards Ranger, "If you're any kind of smart, boy, you'll keep your beef with me and stay the hell out of this. You know good and well what the big dogs will do if they hear you tried to stand in the way of what they ordered". His free hand that had been around my waist traveled slowly up my torso, raising every single hair on my body. I locked eyes with Ranger and saw nothing but rage. If I didn't know any better it looked like a little bit of self-doubt, but that didn't seem like the Ranger I kew, so I quickly wrote it off. I could feel warm, nasty breath on my ear as Scarface spoke again. "And I think they're gonna like what they're served".

That did it. I've had a fair share of creepy men say things to me that this was no different. I took the opportunity to lean into him to distract him for a moment hoping he'd take it for compliance. He chuckled when he took the bait and I raised my foot, unbeknownst to him, and brought it back hard into his knee cap. Not enough to hurt him, I'm sure, but hopefully enough to put him off balance.

The second I felt his grip release I dropped the floor, hoping Ranger would act as fast as I had hoped. This is really when I need that ESP to kick in.

Sure enough, the instant I hit the floor I heard a shot ring out and I was scared to look. I looked first out the door of the office and saw Tank had crawled towards us, planning some sort of sneak attack maybe, and I noticed a trail of blood behind him. Looks like a shot to the leg.

I felt a hand on my back and jumped, trying to move away from the hand. I had landed on my butt with my back against the door frame when trying to get away from the stranger's hold, but thankfully the waft of Bulgari told me that suddenly came told me it was Ranger. He was squatting down in front of me, saying something, but I didn't hear him as I looked past him and saw blood pooling on the floor, seeping through the evident hole in the middle of Scarface's skull. Clearly dead with his face turned towards me, his piercing, empty stare was drilling a hole right through me. I tried to stand, stumbling while doing so, just trying to leave the room.

I didn't feel scared, more-so just curious and entirely overwhelmed at what the hell just happened. There were so many questions going through my head it's like they were fighting over which one took precedence. Who was that guy? How the hell did Ranger know him and what kind of "beef" did they have? What did he mean by he "taught" Ranger? Ranger wasn't anything like this guy, right? Who on earth _ordered_ me? Was this the mob? Junkman's crew? Someone I pissed off my bringing their brother in as an FTA? How on earth did he get past Ranger and all his men? How did he get through _Rangeman_? What had Ranger so spooked that someone actually snuck up on him? _WHY DIDN'T HE SHOOT THE GUY SOONER? _

The ringing in my ears I didn't even notice until now had raised to a deafening level as I came back to reality and a sharp pain on my face. The ringing stopped as I quickly tuned back into the real world. I was standing in the kitchen leaning on the counter for support and Ranger was standing in front of me, his hands on my neck. Ow. My face hurt. Wait a minute. Did Ranger just _slap_ me?

"Steph, snap out of it! We gotta go." I heard him now. He did slap me. "We'll sort through this later, I promise. There are two duffle bags in the bottom of my closet. Go grab them and whatever else you need to last you away for a few days. You have two minutes. Go". I didn't question him although more questions filled my head. Are we leaving? Didn't we just eliminate the threat? _WHAT IS GOING ON?_

Later, Ranger had said. Two minutes is not enough time, so I put all questions aside for the moment and got moving. I went into the closet and grab the duffles, stopping briefly unzipping to ease my curiosity because I deserve it at this point, right? In the first one I saw black, black, and black. Ranger's clothes obviously. The second one I opened and saw some female toiletries on top and some clothes underneath that were just my size. Ranger had prepared for this at some point. I didn't know whether to be flattered or flabbergasted. Flattergasted?_ Ugh, eyeroll at myself._

I don't think I had anything else there at the moment. Then it hit me that there was one thing I couldn't live without if we were going somewhere for a while. I ran and snagged Ranger's shower gel and threw it in his duffle just as he walked through the doorway. I was waiting for his signature "Babe" but there was no amusement in his eyes.

He grabbed the bags from me and turned to walk back to the living room. Something seemed to make him think twice as I heard him drop the bags before I looked up and saw him take two big steps towards me. One hand was on the back of my head while the other grabbed my waist and his lips crashed down on mine. It was intense, passionate, and only lasted a couple of seconds. He put his forehead on mine and said "Babe" before he headed out of the room picking the bags up on his way. I took a second to pull myself together because any kiss from Ranger is like magic, but that one held a lot more fire than I was used to.

I walked into the living room a minute later to find that Tank had made his way up on the couch with Bobby wrapping his leg while Ranger was on the phone in the kitchen. I went to Tank first to make sure all was good there. He gave me a thumbs up and said, "Just a scratch, Little Girl". It may be just a scratch for a man aptly named after a tank, but I still hated that it happened. Bobby reassured me by saying "it went through clean and missed all the important parts. He'll be ignoring my medical advice and fully functioning in no time". Since Bobby was making jokes, I knew Tank would be working on helping solve this mess as soon as Bobbly left the room.

He finished up with Tank and turned to me. "Do you need anything from me while I've got my kit up here?". I didn't even think to check, everything happened so fast. Somehow, the only kind of injury I got was to my pride when Ranger slapped me. Granted it was to bring me back to earth after I spaced out to Mars, but it still stung a little, but I was grateful all the same.

"No, I'm good Bobby, thanks though". I gave him quick smile headed towards Ranger, pretending that I hadn't heard Tank mutter "Like she'd tell you if she did need something". I watched him and Bobby fist bump out of the corner of my eye as I made it to Ranger who had just put his phone down.

He seemed a little more in control and a lot more like himself. "There's a car in the back alley we're gonna go for, do you have everything?". That's when I remembered.

"What happened in the garage? Is Hal okay? How did Scarface get through?" I didn't miss the flicker of amusement in Ranger's eye as I realized he caught onto my nickname for the stranger, but it was quickly replaced by his blank face.

"Bobby has already taken a look at the rest of our men who were down there and sent them home or back to work. Hal got the worst of it, but he's already at the hospital and he'll be just fine, I promise." That didn't answer all my questions and I saw Ranger had hoped I wouldn't notice. "A grenade went off and we were unprepared. He was strategic, I was distracted, and he hit us at right second. I'll explain more in the car, but we gotta go."

At that moment Lester came through the door with keys in his hand. He passed them off to Ranger before giving a quick bro hug and then turned towards me. He came up and gave me a once over, making sure I wasn't hurt. He kissed me on the forehead and pulled me into a hug "Don't drive Ranger nuts, save some crazy for us". I punched him in the shoulder and followed Ranger out the door.

We took the stairs quickly enough that I almost didn't notice the few blood marks along the walls. We exited on the second floor landing, followed the hallway all the way to the end and out a fire door I hadn't noticed before. We took the fire escape down a level and there was a black Porsche Cayenne waiting for us. I settled in the passenger seat while Ranger stowed the bags in the trunk and then got behind the wheel.

"Give me 30 minutes to get my thoughts together and then I'll answer your questions." Wow. I thought I was going to have to speak first.

"Fine, but I get to pick the radio station". I think he was probably too shocked that I didn't argue to even say "babe.". He just shook his head and we set out to God only knows where.


	3. Chapter 3

**EVERYTHING FAMILIAR BELONGS TO JANET EVANOVICH! (Stephanie, Ranger, Tank, Bobby, Lester, Merry Men, Hal, Junkman, etc.) No money to be made, just for fun. **

**Sorry it's been a minute – the real world will get ya sometimes. **

**Chapter 3**

Exactly thirty minutes later we were well out of Trenton thanks to Ranger's led foot on the gas petal. I gave him a couple of minutes and when he made no move to speak I turned off the radio and turned towards him. "Okay time's up. It's been thirty minutes. Who the hell was that?"

He had been in his zone, but I didn't miss the breath he took before speaking. He spoke without looking at me. "Miles Medina. He was my Drill Sergeant when I enlisted."

This seemed like a decent start. I already got more details that I thought I would. "So is this some kind of military thing? What would they want with me?"

"No, it wouldn't be the military. After basic, he approached me and said I had more potential than he'd seen during his whole time in the military. I saw it as an opportunity to improve myself when he said he'd give me additional private training. He taught me some things, but it didn't take long before I picked up on some questionable behavior. He was good at his job but always seemed a little twisted. I didn't want any part of it so I backed off. A few months later he came to me with a plan he had to rob the armory with some of his buddies who had a buyer for some weapons. He said the cash would be enough to get us into hiding until the Army quit looking for him."

I was still trying to process so many words from Ranger in one sitting that I had no words of my own just yet. He looked over to make sure I was still listening. I think he was just as shocked at my silence as I was about his lack of it.

When I didn't say anything, he continued. "I wasn't interested, and I'm pretty sure he could tell right off the bat. I was going to walk away, knowing I had to report him, but he knew that too. He tried to get off the first shot, but luckily a higher rank had suspicions about Medina and bugged my uniform. Someone was there to take him down and they dragged me into questioning to make sure I hadn't been in on any of it."

The car was silent for the next few minutes. I assume Ranger was giving me some time to digest this information, but I was honestly more surprised at the amount of information he was offering.

One question quickly jumped to the front of my mind, "If he was conspiring against the military, isn't that treason or something? Shouldn't he be locked up tight?".

He spared no second in answering, "Yes. And he was and is supposed to be for the rest of his life. He blames me for getting caught, so I should have been notified if anything had happened. I had no idea and it caught me off guard. It shouldn't have, there's no excuse. I'm pretty sure he was my first real enemy, and one I never thought I'd see again."

That made sense. But there was still a lot left unanswered. "Okay, but what do you think he wants with me? And who are the big dogs?"

He looked over at me and made eye contact before speaking again. "I don't know, Babe. But Tank and the guys are on it and will let me know as soon as they find something.".

Ranger was giving me answers, but they just weren't putting me at ease. "But isn't that what you're best at? Finding people and finding things out? How come you're not looking into this with them?"

With his eyes back on the road, he answered in a clipped tone. "Because they can handle this, and we have somewhere else to be".

I watched him as his blank face slid into place. The details were over and we were about to be on a need to know basis only again. I started to feel pulses of anger accompany my confusion. "Where are we going, Ranger?"

His eyes stayed on the road when he answered. "You'll see when we get there".

For a brief self-aware second, I wondered if he remembered who he was talking to. "You pushed me into a car and rushed me out of the city and I didn't argue or put up a fight. Why can't you tell me where we're going or why it's so much more important that we get there when you could be finding out who the hell this Medina guy is working for and why they ordered me like I'm some entree on a dinner menu!" After the words came out, I realized I sounded a bit like a brat, but I was a stressed brat without even so much as a goodbye to her hamster. Oh my god, Rex.

I pulled out my phone to call Lula to asked her to stop by and feed Rex for me, but Ranger plucked it from my hands before I had made any progress. My jaw nearly hit the floor. "And now you're taking my phone?!"

"Until we know who we're up against it's not safe, I'm sorry." He was gentle when he spoke but didn't look at me as he put my phone in his pocket. "The guys are picking up Rex tonight and taking him back to Rangeman. Ella will take care of him while we're gone". Damn his ESP.

He finally looked over at me and must've seen the building rage in my eyes. I saw the blank face lift ever so slightly. "Do you trust me?". Damn it. Of course I did, and he read it right off my face.

I asked the only question in my mind after the anger began to subside. "Why does it feel like we're running?"

"Because for right now we are."

Whoa. I was NOT expecting that one. Ranger running? Never. I didn't have a chance to answer.

"You're right. I am good at finding things outs and trust me, that's exactly what I want to be doing. But my priority is keeping you safe, and I'm not going to send you off to a safe-house because for one I know you won't go without a fight and two, the only way I can know you're safe is if you're with me. So if I have to step back and let the guys do the digging, I'm okay with that because I trust the guys and I need you to trust me".

That did answer one of my questions from earlier. It seems we haven't eliminated the threat just yet.

"I trust you, Ranger". I looked at him and saw him glancing back and forth from the road to me. He had given me more of an explanation that I expected, and I felt a little tingly at his admission. I know he wouldn't keep my phone from me or run me off unless it was important, and I could tell in his voice he was doing this because it was necessary. Ranger wasn't a dictator, and as much as I hate to be bossed around, I know he probably knows what's best right now. A hard pill to swallow, but I didn't have to take it out on him.

"Thank you, Babe." He reached over and put his hand on my leg. Not up to high that it was suggestive or too low that it was comforting, but somehow it was just right.

We rode like that for another half hour or so before I fell asleep. I know he probably had a lot on his mind he was trying to work through, and I didn't want to bother him. I fell asleep soon after and woke up to Ranger stroking my hair. Groggily, I focused on him and looked around to try and figure out where we were. We were in a small parking lot of a vintage motel. Before I could ask, he said "we're stopping for the night, I just wanted to fill you in on something first".

I didn't say anything but looked in his lap where I saw the envelope, he had me get out of the safe earlier. I had completely forgotten about it! I thought surely once he had it, it wasn't my business anymore, but I could tell he was reading my face to see if I was ready for whatever he had to tell me. This only piqued my curiosity.

"What's in the envelope, Ranger?"

I saw the lump in his throat as he swallowed, as if he wasn't sure if he was ready.

"Steph..." Uh oh. He didn't call me Babe.

**More of an informative chapter to clear up a lot of questions. More action to come. It might take me a few days or a couple weeks at a time, but I don't want to rush it and have it be a bum story just for the sake of finishing it quickly. I promise I won't give up on it. I don't like unfinished stories either. I appreciate all the reviews so far! They definitely give me the confidence to keep this going. Thank you!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**EVERYTHING FAMILIAR BELONGS TO JANET EVANOVICH! (Stephanie, Ranger, Tank, Bobby, Lester, Merry Men, Hal, etc.) No money to be made, just for fun. **

"Just spit it out, Ranger. What's in the envelope?" Maybe I was being a little dramatic, but I don't have the patience for this! He's drawing it out like I'm going to run away screaming.

"Listen, I need you to be patient with me for minute, okay? Just let me explain before you blow up. I'm not telling you what to do, but just hear me out." Oh boy. I didn't say anything. I figured I'd at least give him that since I can't promise not to make any outbursts if he pulls out plane ticket to a third world country or something.

When he saw that I was going to be quiet (for now), he opened the envelope and pulled out a stack of papers, maybe about fifteen to twenty or so. There was a smaller stack held together by a rubber band that tumbled out last along with cell phone. I caught a glimpse of the top of the smaller stack and saw what looked like my driver's license, but from another state.

"Is that what your worried about? It's not a surprise that you know someone that can make fake ID's, been there done that". I realized my vow to be patient didn't last too long. He threw a look my way that made me back down. I got the feeling that this isn't just about fake identities.

"Steph, this envelope was only supposed to make it into your hands when something happened to me. I told you once that there was no price for what we give each other and I still mean that but the bottom line is that I'd give my life for yours, no if's, and's, or but's about it."

I opened my mouth to respond even though I wasn't sure what words would come out, but thankfully he stopped me. Somehow I think I knew this to be true, but it still hit different hearing him say it out loud.

He held eye contact the entire time he spoke next. "I don't ask the same in return, and I don't _want_ the same in return. I have a lot of enemies who want to take me out. Some want to start with the people closest to me and that's you, and I swear to protect you from that. But I worry that if one day they're successful, getting rid of me might not be enough to satisfy them and you'd be next on their list. That, or whoever didn't take me out would come after you to get their hand in destroying me and mine."

Thankfully he paused for my brain to catch up for a second and make sure I was hearing him right. What he was saying wasn't as shocking as it was to hear him say it out loud. Ranger was a man of few words, so tonight has been out of the ordinary for him to say the least. If anything, it showed how big of threat he sees this Medina guy to be.

"This is the first time that I'm not one hundred percent certain who or what all we're up against so I'm not taking any chances. I didn't expect to be the one to have to go through this with you, so just bear with me, please." If I didn't know how serious he was before, I do now. Ranger never says please.

I sat trying to sort through my thoughts after what he's said so far. I need him here. I need him with me, not just physically, I need him with me in life. Oh boy. This was the first time I realized this to be the absolute truth. The last time I was so sure of something was when I realized Morelli and I really weren't going to work out and we parted on good terms. Now, I'm realizing that my certainty of not wanting a life with Morelli was driven by the certainty that I absolutely wanted a life with Ranger.

"Okay, so why are we going through this now? You're right here and it's going to stay that way, right?"

He took a breath before answering. "That's the plan. We're going through this now because I'm going to make sure that you're safe at all costs, whether that's with or without me." I didn't like that last part and I think he saw it on my face.

"Don't read me wrong. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure this whole thing gets taken care of while we fly under the radar. But I also want to be prepared for the unexpected. I'm not used to being caught off guard and I'm dealing with it."

"So you think there's enough potential danger here that you feel the need to show me whatever this is now?"

He didn't hesitate. "Yes".

The danger I can handle. But whatever was in the envelope, I didn't like it. The thought of receiving something I was only supposed to get if Ranger was dead was entirely cringeworthy. I'm pretty sure the anger or frustration that was building inside was evident because he intercepted before I could respond.

"Up until a couple years ago, I was at peace with the fact that I would serve my purpose of eliminating the bad guys and protecting the good ones until my time was up, however or whenever my time would come." He paused, either making sure I was paying attention or that he chose the right words, I'm unsure. "Then you came a long and for the first time I can't wrap my head around or accept the possibility of not having a future with you."

I didn't realize my mouth was hanging wide open until he put his hand on my face. I tried to get myself together before I made a fool of myself.

"Umm. So what are those papers?" I asked him, mentally slapping myself for trying to change the subject. The man of few words just unleashed his _feelings_, and here I am avoiding out of shock. I had no idea how to respond to that right now. If Ranger was disappointed or felt any kind of shock as my sudden change of topic, he didn't show it.

He removed his hand from my face and looked down at the stack in his lap. He picked it up and handed it to me. "The first couple of pages are the addresses of all the safe houses I own, both in the country and out. The rest is information on how to access my bank accounts, properties, and a list of people you can contact in every state or country. If you give them a call and tell them your name, or any of the names on these ID's, they'll drop what their doing and come get you or help you, whatever you need. Most of them will do it because they're good guys, but some owe me a favor or two as well."

I was speechless, and entirely overwhelmed. He had to have spent a lot of time pulling all of this together. Trying to gather my thoughts, I said the first thing to come to mind. "So if something happens to you, I'm supposed to go into hiding?" It was a genuine question, not totally out of anger.

"That's what I was afraid you'd say. Like I said, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, and no you don't have to go into hiding just because something happens to me. If I lose my life, I don't want you to lose yours too. All of this is just extra precaution I want to make is in place in case you're in trouble and I'm not here to help for whatever reason."

Flipping through the pages I was stunned at not only the details, but also the long list of accounts and information he was giving me access to. There were locations of safety deposit boxes for safe house keys, cars, bank accounts, phone plans, you name it. Every single page was practically another step in how to live a life without him and it was beginning to rile me up inside.

"I'm sorry but I just don't understand what you want me to do with this right now. You're right here, and frankly I don't like discussing the possibility of not having you here. I'm an adult and can take care of myself sure, and I appreciate these extra measures, but why are you giving me this now? If you're planning on bolting just tell me".

He was calm in his response but chose his words carefully. "I'm giving this to you now so you can familiarize yourself with it should you need it. I don't plan on going anywhere, but things don't go as planned for me, I want you to have backup when you need. I know you can hold your own, you show me that every day and it's one of the reasons why I love you. But it's because I love you that I want to make sure you're taken care of when I'm gone."

I was flattered, and I didn't miss the love bit, but the anger was starting to rise up. "If you love me then why are you so bent on setting me up for a life without you?!"

"Babe let's back up for minute. Please". I tried to tame in some of the fury in my eyes. I didn't say anything and just waited for him to continue.

"I don't like the thought of any of this any more than you do. When Miles showed up tonight, I thought he was there for me, which is why I asked you to grab this. The fact that he's out of prison and even alive was a shock to me so I wasn't sure what to expect. But I was even more shocked and honestly scared when he said he had come for you. I don't know who he's working for or why they have their eyes on you, but I'm going to find out and I'm going to keep you safe while I do it."

"I didn't think anything could scare you."

"I've told you before, I worry about everything. Especially when it involves you because I'm terrified to live with you". He never moved his eyes from mine when he spoke.

"Wow. I didn't know you felt that way about me. I thought you were just 'extremely fond' of me".

"I've tried to tell myself I was only fond of you, but at the risk of sounding corny, it's so much more than that". His hand was back on my face, this time pulling me closer to put his lips on mine.

The kiss was short but held a lot of emotion. What I was about to say next was either going to totally destroy the moment or light it up like a bonfire.

"At the risk of ruining our entire friendship, I don't like any of this because I don't want to live without you, and I know that I can't. I love you, and I think I _love you_, love you even if that's not the kind of love you were talking about earlier. That's why this is making me angry I think".

He chuckled a little but kissed me again. Maybe that's a good sign?

"I know babe. I _love you_, love you too." I got one more kiss to accompany the swell of relief that was coursing through my veins. Holy cow, this day.

The kiss was cut short as he grabbed the papers and slid them back in the envelope along with it's other contents. After that was sealed he reached into the glove compartment and pulled out another stack of ID's.

"These are for both me and you, the other's are only for you." He explained as he grabbed the two off the top. "Come on Mrs. Pardo, let's go get a hotel room and you can ask any of the thousands of questions you've got on your mind". He was out of the car and grabbing the bags from the trunk before I was even able to pull myself together. I was still in shock and trying to comprehend everything that's happened.

He opened my door and grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the car. He set the bags down and pulled something out of his pocked before lifting my left hand to his lips. He left a sweet kiss there before sliding a shining rock of a ring on my finger.

"Don't get excited, this is Mrs. Pardo's ring. I can promise you Mrs. Manoso's ring will be much better." My eyes got wide at his last statement as he turned towards the hotel's office. I was left staring at my left as we walked. I quickly got myself together and caught him before he got to the door.

"What do you mean, Mrs. Manoso's ring? We've never even talked about dating!"

"Relax babe. Your father already knows I intend on marrying you one day, it's about time you knew too." There's the Ranger I knew. He could trip me up with a single sentence. The man of mystery has done it again.

"What you _mean _my father knows?!"

"He knows my intentions is all I meant, and for the record, he approves. I'm not proposing, not yet, but I am going to make sure the world knows your mine one day." With that, he turned and opened the door of the hotel, signaling me to go in as he held the door open.

"You know we're not finished with this conversation, right?" I glared at him.

"I know babe". He said with a smirk, grabbing my hand and walking inside.


End file.
